Most of us think of our period as a straight line – we have our period for around 5 days, then we don’t for around 23, then we have our period again, then we don’t…and so on. There are countless other cycles we live in on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis – our menstrual cycle is no different - no matter how much we choose to ignore it, it just keeps going. Every month, a menstruating woman’s body moves through a cycle, just as the earth moves in a cycle turning day to night, our bodies, also being part of the universe, adhere to these same laws that bring us full circle to a new beginning every time we start to bleed.

The beautiful thing about a cycle is the constant opportunity it provides. We are so used to living a life that is happening to us rather than one we have any say in. We think illness and disease is unlucky, that period pain is a curse and that our body is against us should we struggle with fertility or other menstrual cycle issues. Yet when we acknowledge the cycles that are already happening and move with them rather than against them, we understand life and our body in a different way.

What if we knew that there was the potential for a connection to ourselves and others that brought an unprecedented joy, vitality and a feeling of absolute equalness and love? What if this connection was in fact ‘normal’ and very real? Wouldn’t we then take every day as a new beginning and an opportunity to deepen the way we are living so that this joy can be our normal?

The cycle of menstruation, whether we acknowledge it or not or like it or not, continues to go around in circles every month. Often women will despise this process and resent their body for ‘doing this to them’, like their body is out to get them. Understandably so, when we think we are at the mercy of something that is happening to us again and again that we have absolutely no control over…

But what if the quality of our choices and the way we live has everything to do with our experience of our body, including how we experience our cycle?

The truth is, if we were to see the cycle for what it is, we are naturally pulled to living with a new level of responsibility because we know we are repeating the same thing over and over. Many are quite comfortable without this awareness, even though they cannot escape the fact that it is always happening. You see, if we are not choosing responsibility, then we are choosing irresponsibility and our body responds accordingly. Not as punishment but rather a loving correction.

It’s convenient to blame our body. This seemingly lets us off the hook so we don’t have to look at how we are contributing to the discomfort and the unease…but our body knows, it registers everything and we cannot escape the impact of our choices.

Every time we bleed, our body is offering a healing, an opportunity to reflect on how we have lived in the past month. At this time, we have easier access to a depth of connection towards our natural stillness than we do at other times in the cycle. We move inward toward this stillness that women naturally hold within. Or we can resist and fight. We can reflect on the month just gone, the choices we’ve made and the quality of those choices, see what needs adjusting or we can deny the natural cycle and not be responsible for or adjust anything, continuing in the ignorance of that magic that is on offer.

Embracing our cycle and the responsibility it is offering not only supports us and our bodies but also offers a reflection to others. This is a woman living with energetic responsibility, knowing that all her choices affect everyone around her and the cycles that we are all a part of.

When I was younger and throughout most of my life, I would wake up in the morning, every morning, and sneeze at least 20 times. The first thing I would do would be to go down to the kitchen to make a big bowl of cereal, usually weet-bix, milk and sugar, sometimes warmed, sometimes cold. Immediately after I would have another round of sneezing, my eyes would be itchy and my nose was constantly irritated. And the irritation I caused everyone around me was off the scale! I remember saying to my mum once, if I could replace one part of my body it would be my nose, I’d happily chop it off.

More often than not, I would come home from school and have some more cereal and if not, I’d have some before bed. It was the milky, sugary, soggy taste that I craved at any time of the day. Yet I was torturing myself. If anyone has experienced hay-fever, you will know how insanely irritating, aggravating and debilitating it is. It builds a level of frustration in your body that feels completely out of control with no escape. This was torture and I did it to myself for much of my life. For some reason, the cereal won every time.

I deliberately chose to assault my body yet my body never let up in letting me know that this was not a good choice.

Around 10 years ago, I started to eat less dairy and less gluten and began to notice significant changes in those crazy hay-fever symptoms, along with increased energy, feeling more alert and more clear. This only happened because I began connecting to myself and my body in a way that I hadn’t before. I became more aware of my movements and the way I cared for myself. I realised that the way I had been used to thinking about myself was outright abusive. There was not much love in my body and therefore it was not being expressed either. Moody teenager eat your heart out, literally.

So naturally, as the love was building and was being expressed, the less need and craving I had for cereal and milk and sugar and the less irritated and aggravated I felt. Now to the point where I have no hay-fever symptoms at all, none!

This is but one tiny example of the enormous intelligence that my body is communicating to me every single day. In amongst the thick fog of hay-fever symptoms that used to make me think I was going crazy, I thought I would never make it out and that I would endure this for the rest of my life. Yet all I had to do was LISTEN…listen to my body.

We think we can get away with the indulgences or the occasional trashings but we can’t. What goes in has got to come out, somehow, sometime. The persistence and the consistency of my body is a level or commitment that I want to join it in. Instead of putting up a fight or resisting to the hilt, I have available to me, a wealth of understanding and knowing that is relentlessly being presented. My body is my guide and it always has been, it’s just a simple matter of being self-aware, taking notice and appreciating that it does matter. Every moment matters because the body is registering every single movement and every single choice. Our thinking, our rationalising, our justifying has nothing on our ﻿whole body intelligence. ﻿

“No religion has ever sought to unite all others under a one truth for the sake of our world being a one place of one people living as one in all, which if considered for any length of time, exposes the real basis of religion as being about itself and never truly for a place of love, unity, harmony and grace"Serge Benhayon

Chances are, many will read this question and say ‘nothing…religion has nothing to do with my health and wellbeing’. And I would tend to agree, given the extent of atrocity, violence and oppression that we see in the world today, as a result of religion as we know it. How is any of this healthy? How does war, self-sacrifice, honour killings, control, separation, dogma and even tolerance contribute to our well-being? I add tolerance in because as far as I can see, tolerance is just another way to mask the hatred, the anger, the superiority and supremacy that is evident to varying degrees across all religions. I grew up a Catholic but never resonated with the cold dampness of the church and resisted the teachings of the bible that set fear in me, that the Almighty Father was watching over me should I be led into temptation…and without my devotion I would not be delivered from evil.

Religion as we know it, affects us. Because of my experience and because of all that I witness is going on in the name of religion, I was forced to turn my back and say - this I will not be a part of. If this is religion, then I want nothing to do with it.

But what if the word religion has been reinterpreted to such a large extent that we have forgotten the basic principles of what the word truly represents?

And what if we have turned our backs on the very principles that lay the foundation for life, for our connection to nature, to the stars, to the universe, to divinity and to each other?

Religion, in its true meaning is very much a part of true health and well-being.

Our body is a part of the universe. We are not separate to the magic of God that we see in nature everywhere just as we are not separate to the stars. We are a part of the whole even though most often we live as if we are not. What if religion is very simply in how we live? Then it is our relationship with everything and everyone. It is our relationship with divinity and with the love that we are, not what we seek. Therefore, how we treat our body and our daily choices, are all part of true religion.

Are we living in a way that acknowledges our inescapable relationship with the universe, with divinity and all that nature reflects back to us or are we living in denial of this?

Similarly, are we living with the knowing of the love that we are and equally see this in others every day?

And do we appreciate that our bodies are constantly being pulled to be this love, coming back to what is natural and therefore gives us corrections to offset our denial and/or refusal to accept this fact?

When we make our health and well-being about more than not being sick and when we expand even further and make it about living who we truly are from the inner-most part of ourselves, untainted by any imposition, dogma, ideal or belief, then we will know what it means to be truly vital, to be joyful, to be still, purposeful – and what it means to be truly religious. We will then know that true health is about community and brotherhood and is nothing to do with separation, as we are all one and the same.

True religion is your relationship with you, your relationship with your body and therefore your relationship with everything & everyone. Your health and well-being has everything to do with this.

“If you understand what religion truly is, then everything is religion" Serge Benhayon

As we come to the end of the year, the usual scramble leading up to Christmas is nothing short of chaos. Christmas parties and end of year celebrations fill up the calendars and indulgence is ok because it’s ‘that time of year’ and ‘we deserve it’ – right? And it’s ok because after new year and our resolutions kick in, we can detox, get rid of the mess and start all over again. It’s no secret that detox diets, regimes, retreats, boot camps, health-kicks and the like, take off in the month of January.

The intention is there because we know things need to change...but something doesn’t add up when we continue to the repeat the same pattern year after year. I just came across another detox plan recommended by a friend, one that offers all the promises of healthy living. On one hand, yes, it was offering something that would ‘work’ in that it gives you the opportunity to cut things out like gluten, refined sugars, dairy and excessive amounts of carbohydrates, not to mention alcohol – all a great support to the body. On that level it’s great and needed. We have become very accustomed to not listening to our bodies and what it actually needs. We’re ok with filling it up with toxins because there is always going to be a detox answer to fix it if we want to. But does that actually work…and to what extent?

I personally, have been through it all. I’ve detoxed many many times over my life, some to correct times of excess and other times because I was told it would be spiritually enlightening. I did the hard yards and put my dedication to work. I’m an ‘all in’ or ‘all out’ kind of person, even right back in the day when I used to do the 40 hour famine or when my Dad bet me that I couldn’t eat sugar for a year, so I did 2 years! In all of that though, nothing actually stuck. Not one of these gave me what I wanted – the 40 hour famine didn’t stop the starvation in Africa, the copious amounts of herbs, shakes, pills, tonics or brews didn’t support me to maintain anything of quality in my life which is why I was always looking for the next one and considering how much further I could take it and how far could I push myself.

It wasn’t until 2010 that now in hindsight, I see I discovered the ultimate in detoxing. Through the teachings of Universal Medicine, I quickly discovered that everything I had invested huge amounts of my time, energy and money in, was all hugely uneccessary. All that was needed was a simple matter of connection. Simple. Nothing to do with mindfulness, nothing to do with enlightenment, nothing to do with strict regimes or practices and nothing to do with potions and pills. It was pure and simple, me connecting back to me. No drama and no extremes involved.

This was about a way of living every day that didn’t need to take the edge off life at the end of the day, the week or year. It was about consistency in building a quality of living that constantly feeds you back rather than robbing and depleting you day after day after day…

It’s important to note that toxicity is not just about the food we eat and the liquid we drink or anything physically consumed, it is also about the way we do life. If we put ourselves into drive every day to get everything done, go to work, run the house, take care of the kids and everything in between, then we are toxifying our body. Likewise, if we’ve given up on life and have no means of motivation or inspiration to be a part of it then we are toxifying our body. If we constantly look at ourselves in the mirror and think I’m not good enough, I’m fat, I’m worthless or compare ourselves to others, then we are toxifying our body. If we hold back saying what we feel when we feel to say it or allow abuse of any kind, then we are toxifying our body.

These days, I enjoy living with clarity, strength, playfulness, joy and purpose every day – not with perfection but it’s a tangible reality. No need for false props to keep me going. It’s what sits beneath the surface that counts, patiently waiting until it’s given the space to emerge and the opportunity to be lived. A measure of vitality that no official detox program can possibly provide.

Why not live in a way where each year builds on the next, where we truly learn what doesn’t work and put into place what does, where we let go of what is self-serving and be more responsible about serving the whole and where we understand that every choice we make contributes to everything and everyone without exception?

So I understand the detox diets and fads but in truth they are nothing more than relief before the toxicity builds straight back up again. They do not truly deliver, which is why they never ever last and we need them year after year to clean up the same mess.

The ultimate detox comes from your body - it's a way of living. It’s pure and simple.

Make ALL aspects of your life about the quality in which you live them. No one aspect is more important than another and no one aspect can be separated from the whole. Everything affects everything. No exceptions!

Photograph by Dean Whitling taken from College of Universal Medicine Website www.coum.org

If I were to hang out at school pick up or drop off and asked this question to the mother's taking their kids to and from school, I've no doubt that the consensus would be centered around busyness, perhaps overwhelm and trying to juggle different balls and keep them in the air simultaneously. If I stood at the train station at peak hour and asked the women there how life as a woman is today and what does it mean for them, they are sure to answer something along the same lines, dealing with pressure and stress, trying to keep everything going, everything moving and everyone taken care of.

Isn't it true that so many of us live this momentum of trying to live up to some kind of dream or picture and when we don't achieve this, we are going through each day with an underlying disappointment that propels us into the same cycle of trying harder or giving up completely...

Something is not adding up here when we live like this and our then we look at our health and our vitality and things are not going so well. Yet we don't question this when we see the rates of illness and disease going through the roof. We seem to accept that anxiety, whether low levels or extreme, is normal. We think that there is nothing we can do about period pain or it's just unlucky that we are finding it difficult to fall pregnant and that's just the way it is for us as women. And what about the increasing rates of breast cancer, ovarian cancer and cervical cancer - we spend copious amounts of time, money and energy raising money for a cure, for something outside of ourselves to fix the problem, like we have nothing to do with it.

We act as if these problems that are growing exponentially, are out of our control. But what if each and every one of us has the power within us to change the course of illness, disease and just plain un-ease with life?

By virtue of the very fact that we are living in our bodies every day, it makes so much sense that the quality of this 'living' is affecting everything - how we feel, how we sleep, how we choose to eat, how we walk...everything. So that being the case, we should also hold the very key that can change all of this.

The College of Universal Medicine is presenting a groundbreaking course that provides an opportunity for women to discuss the realities of what is going on for themselves and for women in the world today. Honest and open discussions have been lost whilst society lives under a pretence of being 'ok' 'doing well' 'just getting by' and 'everything's fine'. The Being a Woman in the World Today course, delivered in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane also offers a different way for women by bringing a connection and understanding of themselves and their bodies. What better way for a woman to empower herself if not by knowing herself from the inside out?

When we have this understanding, we can take responsibility for our own health and make different choices in life that affect how we experience each and every day.

The College of Universal Medicine is a charitable educational institution dedicated to promoting true health and wellbeing based on the teacheings of the Ageless Wisdom. See the website for more information about this course for women, along with other groundbreaking courses supporting men and women in different aspects of life.

The word esoteric has become a very normal part of my vocabulary, it's now just second nature. Yet it's a word that seems to bring up lots of different things for different people. People can react to it, question it, are intrigued by it and even balk at it. This is simply because it is largely misunderstood.

The word esoteric simply means 'inner-most' or 'inside' and has been around through the ages from way way back. These days, there is much focus on what is 'outside', on what we can attain, acquire, become or accumulate. We live our lives in a forward motion, chasing the 'dream' or a 'vision' that we have held and we forever live in the disappointment of not ever quite getting there... Or when we seem to arrive, it's still not the 'it' we thought it would be.

And in regards to our health, much of what we do for ourselves is about 'fixing' this or 'administering' that, but rarely will it be about connecting inwardly to feel how the dis-ease or illness arrived in the first place. Rarely does a modality offer you a connection first to bring more clarity and understanding from the inside out.

What if we were to look inward and make this our marker and motivation to then move forward in life?

What if we started from the inside when looking at our health and then moved out?

What if we were able to understand ourselves in such a way that an elusive dream is nothing compared to what we would find in the inner-most part of ourselves?

Through the profound modality that is Esoteric Healing, we can begin to find the answers to these questions. This way of healing brings us back to the beginning, if you like. To a point where we can feel and mark our inner-most essence, that has been untainted by all that we have taken on in life that misrepresents who we truly are underneath.

Everything we have ever lived, hurts and all, remain in the body until such time, that it can be truly healed. There are a plethora of therapies, modalities and courses out there today that claim to heal, yet in my 13 years of clinical experience, people are still living with the same hurts some 10, 20, 50 years later!

Esoteric healing is very different in the way it brings a person back to the very core of their being and allows them to embody the healing by filling oneself up with the love that they are. Like shedding the layers but at the same time enriching from within, like a young sapling that is nourished and nurtured through the fertile ground it is rooted in.

When we do this for ourselves, we get a real sense of what 'moving forward' truly means and what it means for us to be evolving as a person, rather than repeating the same old stuff over and over again where illness and disease just takes on different forms. We also realise that we are worth much more than we once thought because we have more clarity about who we are and what we offer to all.

Esoteric Healing is for every body and is the most simple, normal, natural and real modality that I know. Not to mention how incredibly power-full it is and the enormous and lasting value it provides.

Girls today are growing up in a very different world. Their path to navigate is far more treacherous than when I was a teenager only 25 years ago. The media and technology have a big part to play in this, making everything so much more accessible and available. Life is 'on' 24/7. There is no escape and it's often very difficult to even leave a schoolyard challenge at school at the end of a day. Everything goes with you in your pocket and if you allow it, everyone knows your every move. They know what you like, what you don't like, where you are, what you're wearing, what you're eating and who you're with.

The pressure today is beyond what we can only imagine and the evidence is very clear, that girls are struggling and need support.

The Girl to Woman Festival 2016 is themed 'Respect and Celebrate'. This festival is running for the second time, after a hugely successful and very well received event in January 2015. On January 9th 2016, an entire day is being dedicated to celebrate girls and women, with an incredible line up of presentations, workshops and activities as well as the very popular market stalls and delicious cafe. The first 150 tickets sold to girls will receive a FREE gift bag! Book here.

Girls need to be reminded of who they are, in and amongst the onslaught of what they experience in every day life.

They need to know that they are not defined by the images they see of women in magazines and that beauty is a quality that cannot be gained or bought...it is something that you already are.

Girls deserve to be celebrated so that they can unashamedly learn to celebrate themselves.

They need to know that loving yourself is fundamental to building a healthy relationship with another

Girls deserve a level of self-respect that far outweighs anyone else's needs or desires of them.

Knowing how precious and tender she is and therefore how powerful she is, needs to be her foundation in life

The Girl to Woman Festival is so very needed. Such a welcomed breath of fresh air and beautiful dose of realness, bringing the community together for the well-being and future of our girls.

Yesterday I invited 4 women over for a cup of tea with a very specific purpose and focus. We gathered together to talk about our breasts. Now this may seem a little odd...but when this is really considered and given the quality of the discussion we had over an hour and a half, I propose that it is actually quite a normal thing to do. It's interesting that as women, we spend a lot of time together and then again maybe not enough quality time. We are very good at keeping up to date with gossip and talking around, over and under how we are truly feeling, yet it is not often that women of differing ages and upbringings can sit together in equalness and discuss topics that really matter and ones that are supporting each other to grow by being open and honest.

A comprehensive study from 2007 revealed that 70% of women are dissatisfied with their breasts

There are so many ideals around breasts and women's bodies in general but we tend to not talk about it so much, especially about how it affects us and how we see ourselves. One study from 2007 revealed that 70% of women are dissatisfied with their breasts and from our discussion, this was evident as all of us had grown up with a less than loving relationship with our bodies and breasts. And with cultural, societal and political impositions on women's breasts throughout history it is no surprise that girls grow up disconnected from this part of their body.

This particular group of women had all previously experienced sessions in a modality called Esoteric Breast Massage, so our relationship with our breasts has been developing over a number of years and for all of us, this was the determining factor in beginning to understand the true meaning of breasts and how far we had gone from appreciating and loving this most valued and equal part of us.

Girls innately know the preciousness of their development but how much do we hinder this through our own unresolved hurts we may be carrying? And how much do we hinder our own return to our own innate loveliness as women by not expressing, by holding back and by not being truly honest about how we feel?

There is much to come from women being together in a supportive and loving way. I say we need more of this...the inspiration of which has come from Esoteric Women's Health and Natalie Benhayon, pioneering a new and true way forward for women in regards to their wellbeing. Without Natalie and the foundation that Esoteric Women's Health has laid for so many women and many more to come, this Sunday morning cuppa and enormously healing conversation would never have happened in the way that it did.

Over time and across cultures and countries, the working woman has taken many different shapes. Through the western world, today it is common to see women working, running businesses and raising a family (which in itself is a 24/7 appointment). The days are crammed from woe to go, if lunchtimes are had they are filled with errands and taking the time to actually sit and eat is a luxury she feels she cannot afford.

As a result, women (and men for that matter) are not well. And from what I see, day in day out, crossing the paths of many many women every single day, it is not the work itself that is the problem...or the family...it is the quality of how we live on a day-to-day basis.

Self-care often goes right out the window and life becomes about surviving and getting through, the day, the week and the year. Women are experiencing levels of anxiety and stress that are through the roof, not to mention thyroid conditions and heart disease...and this is just scraping the surface.

Self-care at work is one aspect of self-care that Dr Jane Keep discusses beautifully, offering another way for women in the workplace. Of course, self-care cannot remain in the workplace, it must extend to all aspects of life where a solid foundation can be built to actually enjoy work and everything else that life is offering.

There are 2 women (and more) that have been an enormous source of inspiration for me...so how can I not share them with you all?! What we have here is 2 very different women in very different professions, yet there is something about the quality with which they choose to live that makes their experience of work very different to what we currently see in modern life. This is something to take notice of in a very big way. All of what they do (and it is A LOT) comes without anxiety, stress and exhaustion and a productivity and efficiency that any CEO would bend over backwards for.

Natalie also volunteers her time to support global community projects all geared towards supporting true health and wellbeing. Anyone would think that she should be burnt out right? Wrong! Not only is Natalie NOT burnt out, she is forever blossoming, consistently steady, beautifully humble and literally 'on fire' everywhere she goes…this is how she does it…

1. How do you manage your work life and home life?Knowing that the most important part of work or home life is the quality of me that I bring to it. Managing the busy schedule of appointments, commitments and equally the quality of my well-being is something that remains in balance and not having one at the expense of the other.

2. Why is work important to you?My work is a medium through which I can bring my all to others, it is a way to not only enjoy my own life but equally share that true good with others and providing a true service that restores trust in people.

3. What is your number 1 self-care tip for working women?Remind yourself every day that it is about who you are and not what you do. This is paramount in self-care, as the then structuring of a daily routine and flow that supports one’s commitments is originating from a truly balanced feel and mind-set.

4. How did you build self-care at work?One step at a time. Consistency is where you start to see true and lasting results, so I will make a commitment to something ‘new’ or to make a change, and give it focus every day until it becomes ‘normal’. Simple daily tasks like what you eat, the way you’re answering the phone, going for a walk in a lunch break etc.

5. Did you have a mentor or someone that inspired you along the way?The teachings and workshops of Universal Medicine were my inspiration to understand a true work-life balance and what it means to self-care.

Terri-Anne Connors

Terri-Anne is hands down a master of business, currently employed as the Operations Manager for four high-end hairdressing salons and one retail shop and she manages over forty staff. Such a role is both demanding in its hours and management of people, staff and customers alike, of which Terri-Anne does extremely well. I have watched her with people and her engagement in business and have been suitably impressed by the effortless connections and impressions she makes wherever she goes.

On top of this full time position, Terri-Anne volunteers her time to support global health and wellbeing community projects, is a member of a major political party and she also co-manages a successful complimentary health care clinic.. Inspired? Read more from Terri-Anne.

1. How do you manage your work life and home life?Everything has a place and everything is important, not anything more than the other. The key for me is to take time for and enjoy every aspect of my life. For example I enjoy my time traveling in to the city for work each day, I enjoy making my bed and cleaning the kitchen, and mopping the floors as much as I enjoy training a team member or even disciplining a member of staff, I even enjoy dealing with a customer complaint. Because each is an opportunity to enjoy being with me, being comfortable in my own skin - it is also, often and importantly an opportunity to connect with people, my greatest joy.

2. Why is work important to you?I love work and I couldn't imagine life without it - I have always worked more than one job at a time. Work for me is about being with people and when you make it about that it becomes self-fulfilling and easy. I find I have an unending well of energy and joy when I work. I think it is important for each of us to work, forgetting how that might look like or whether it is casual or full time, paid or unpaid it is always an opportunity to grow and develop ourselves as people.

3. What is your number 1 self-care tip for working women?Take time for you throughout your day, even if it is just for that moment you take a sip of a hot cup of tea, or when you walk from one place to the next, I always connect in with my body and check how I am feeling.

4. How did you build self-care at work?Just like this, I have times where I consciously build in moments of stop and or check ins, this started for me with bathroom breaks. I would literally stop and enjoy this moment for me, not thinking or worrying about anything else but being present with what I was doing and while checking in with how I felt. I gave myself permission to be honest about what it was I was feeling and not give myself a hard time for it. It built from there, I then noticed how I could do this at other times and in other places at work.

5. Did you have a mentor or someone that inspired you along the way?Yes Serge Benhayon is and has been my inspiration for the past 12+ years, in both my working life and personal. He once said to me the key to working with your CEO/GM/Boss is show them that you are always working with them, not in opposition to them nor in competition with them. That you do not compromise who you are while respecting who they are - I now bring this way of being to everyone I work with regardless of their title or position.

Being a Girl...Becoming a Woman

As girls make that all important transition in adolescence, that really has no official start date or end date, they can be somewhat overwhelmed with all of the change that occurs. I know I was horrified at knowing there was this impending day that would arrive where I would begin to bleed and having no idea when that was going to be. I spent a good 3 years turning around and checking the back of my school dress every time I stood up not knowing if one day it would be stained with blood and I would be humiliated in front of my class mates, my teacher and indeed it felt like the whole school! Thankfully it didn't happen like this but I still did feel enormous embarrassment and shame at having my period and it was certainly something that I kept very secret. As well as the array of physical and emotional changes that happen, of which there are many, around this time, girls are looking and searching for a way to be in the world. Their body is maturing and they can feel the pull towards womanhood and naturally look for what this actually means. In today's world, girls are bombarded with messages of what this could mean. From the ever concerning images in our media landscape that unapologetically objectify and sexualise women, to the fast driven, fast paced and exhausted women that may be very much a part of their lives, the message that girls are getting is confusing to say the least and overall one that tells them that it is not ok to simply be themselves.

So this time in a girls life, where she is becoming a woman, is pivotal in her development. She is setting herself up for what lays ahead, so as the adults in their lives we have a very crucial part to play.

5 ways to support girls through this transition

1. Opening up conversations. Be real and honest and share your stories. This is a beautiful way to connect and show the young girls in your life that it is ok to be vulnerable. You may have a story about when you first got your period and how that was for you. And even how you've experienced it since. The subject of periods is still taboo, so the more we can talk about it and expose the shame, guilt and ideas of it being a curse or an inconvenience, the easier it will be for our girls to begin to see what a blessing their cycle is and how it is such a normal and beautiful part of being a woman. Find out about cervical mucous and vaginal discharge and talk about how this is something very normal. Talk about the emotional changes that can sometimes be difficult to navigate yet often alleviated when talked about and understood. 2. Keeping a diaryEncouraging her to keep a diary or a journal where she can express how she feels and where she develops her relationship with herself. This is especially supportive if she is following the days of her cycle, so she can start to feel how her cycle is there to support her. Keeping track of yourown cycle so that you are developing your own relationship with yourself makes it all the more powerful. The Our Cycles app is the number 1 tool when it comes to tracking cycles - for menstruating and menopausal women as well as for men! 3. Finding a mentorIt is always a huge bonus if there are other women in her life that she trusts and can open up to. This way she has the beautiful opportunity of many reflections. The Girl to Woman Project has programs specifically designed to support girls at this time, run by women who are committed to their own growth and development. Girls will cover topics through the program that include body image, periods, puberty, media messages, relationships, healthy eating and self-love. 4. CelebrationSimply celebrating who she is, not for anything that she might do or how she may look, but simply for the precious girl and young woman that she is and always will be. Often parents can change their perception of girls as they become a woman and unconsciously see them as 'all grown up' which they are, but the truth is, we never grow out of the precious quality we see in every baby and young girl. Even as women we still have this and many women now are finding their way back and wondering why they ever left. When a girl is celebrated for simply being herself, she will thrive in the most beautiful and fulfilling way, reflecting her innate beauty to the world. 5. Supporting ourselvesAnd finally but most importantly, the more we are able to support ourselves, as women and as men, the more we will be able to be there for our girls. We also deserve to be celebrated for who we are, so feeling and knowing our own value and worth is a key ingredient. Be practical and start with connection. The Gentle Breath Meditation being the number 1 tool for this! Our connection to ourselves is paramount and is the beginning of what could be a very real and honest relationship with ourselves. Then there really is no limit to how this can support those around us...

Sara Harris

Sara Harris is a complementary women's health specialist practising in Caulfield and Viewbank, Melbourne. She is the founder of a number of Programs for Girls and Women including the Girl to Woman Project. For more about Sara see About Sara Harris.